Pictorial toy wrist watch

ABSTRACT

A SIMULATED WRIST WATCH HAVING A MAGNIFYING PORTION IN THE CRYSTAL WHICH IS MANUALLY ROTATABLE OVER A FIXED DIAL TO SUCCESSIVELY UNCOVER CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED, DISPLAY AREAS SUCH AS SINGLE PICTURES OF A CHILD&#39;&#39;S ACTIVITIES THE PICTURES AND THEIR SUBJECT MATTER BEING CORRELATED PHYSICALLY AND TIMEWISE WITH THE TWELVE VISIBLE DIAL MARKINGS.

D. R. HARPER 3,561,153

PICTORIAL TOY WRIST WATCH Filed Jan. 25, 1969 FIG. 2 I6 26 28 58 IN V ENTOR.

BY David R. Harper his AGE/VT United States Patent 3,561,153 PICTORIALTOY WRIST WATCH David R. Harper, Nashville, Tenn., assignor to Kusan,Inc., Nashville, Tenn., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Jan. 23, 1969,Ser. No. 793,331 Int. Cl. A63h 33/30 US. Cl. 461 9 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A simulated wrist watch having a magnifying portion inthe crystal which is manually rotatable over a fixed dial tosuccessively uncover circumferentially spaced, display areas such assingle pictures of a childs activities, the pictures and their subjectmatter being correlated physically and timewise with the twelve visibledial markings.

This invention relates generally to childrens toys and more particularlyto a simulated wrist watch and strap.

Toys of this general type are old in the art and usually involve a moreor less conventional case and one or two hands which are fixed ormovable over a conventional dial and, once familiar therewith, childrenquickly lose interest therein.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide anovel toy wrist watch for children which is not only attractive butwhich will indefinitely hold their interest and attention.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved toywrist watch for children which has a novel strap and simple caseattaching and wrist securing means therefor.

. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedtoy wrist watch having conventional, dial hour-marking indicia exposedby a crystal including thereon a representation of an hour hand which isrotatable thereover, the crystal also including an etched portioninterrupted by a magnifying portion which portions respectively concealand individually disclose pictures associated with the dial markings asthe crystal is rotated. 2 A still further object of the presentinvention is to provide a novel, attractive and intriguing toy wristwatch of the type described which will be susceptible of ready andeconomic manufacture and which will be rugged and of long life in use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings I have shown one embodiment of the above invention. Inthis showing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the simulated wrist watch and strapcomprising the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a central vertical sectional view thereof to an enlarged scaletaken on the line of 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the bottom of the watch case;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the dial showing the conventional dialhour-marking indicia and radially outwardly positioned, similarlycircumferentially spaced, picture areas; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view to an enlarged scale of the novelwrist-encircling strap of thevinvention.

Referring to the drawings, numeral designates as a whole the novel wristwatch and strap of the present invention which comprises a lower case12, an upper case 14, a dial 16, a crystal 18; a'crystal rotating stem20; and a strap 22. While the watch parts may be formed of any suitablematerial, they are preferably molded of high impact styrene plastic withthe crystal being formed of crystal styrene as will be furtherdescribed.

Patented Feb. 9, 1971 The lower watch case 12 is provided with anupstanding centrally disposed tube 24 which receives the dependingpositioning and alignment stub shaft 26 formed centrally of therotatable crystal 18 and its upper end 28 acts as a bearing for thecrystal. The bearing tube 24 is slotted on diametrically opposite sidesto form bearing recesses 30 for the stem 20, a third bearing recesstherefor being formed in the lower case as at 32. A dial supporting,upstanding circular flange 34 is formed concentrically with the bearingtube 24 on the lower case 12 and is also provided with stem bearingrecesses 36.

The dial 16 is a flat circular disc having a central aperture 38 of aslightly greater diameter than the bearing tube 24 about which it isplaced. The aperture 38 is circular but provided with diametricallyopposite, inward ly extending tabs 40 which project into the bearingtubes recess 30 to prevent rotation of the dial. The face area of thedial within the circle 42 is provided with the conventional hour-markingindicia 44 designating the hours from 1 to l2 which area is clearlyvisible through the crystal 18 as will'be further described.

An important feature of theinvention resides in the provision of adisplay area 46 positioned adjacent and radially outwardly of each ofthe indicia 44 and which areas are not readily visible through thecrystal because of obscuring means in the form of etching. The displayareas may bear representations of anything of interest to a child suchas pictures, numbers, letters, etc. and all or a part thereof may besimilar or dissimilar. From the standpoint of interest to a child, it isdesirable that each representation be correlated with its adjacent hourindicating indicia 44. As an example, different pictures on each displayarea can depict a childs activity at each hour of the day starting at 7oclock.

The pictures depict the child at: 7 as getting out of bed; 8 as takingthe school bus; 9 as watching the teacher at the blackboard; 10 asplaying at recess; 11 as in a reading class; 12 as at lunch; 1 as atrecess; 2 as in writ ing class; 3 as taking the school bus home; 4 asplaying after school; 5 as watching television; and 6 as eating supper.

The crystal 18 is shaped generally like an inverted cup supported by itsstub shaft 26 in the bearing tube 24 and its depending, peripheralflange, bottom edge is serrated as at 47 and meshes with a pinion 48fixed to the inner end of the stem 20 which is rotatably supported inthe bearing recesses 30, 32 and 36 as stated. The outer end of the stemis provided with a manipulative knob 50. The disc 16 is kept seated onits supporting circular flange 34 by a plurality of vertically disposed,circumferentially spaced ribs 52 formed on the inner side of theperipheral flange of the crystal 18. The upper portion of the flange(FIG. 2) is provided with a circular shoulder 54 which is engaged by theinturned flange 56 of the upper case 14 to maintain the various watchparts in properly assembled relationship when the upper and lower casesare cemented together.

As seen in FIG. 1, the crystal 18 is fully transparent in the centralcircular area overlying the indicia 44 but the area lying radiallyoutwardly thereof has been etched so as to obscure the display areas 46except for a small area about the size of a display area. Here, thecrystal is displaced arcuately upwardly to form a magnifying viewingwindow 58 whose upper and lower surfaces are carefully polished andafford a magnification of 3 or 4 to 1 of the pictures on the displayareas. An hour hand 59 indicating the window 58 is also etched centrallyon the crystal.

Another important feature of the invention resides in thewrist-encircling strap 22 which is molded in one piece of polyethyleneincluding the buckle 60, the loop 61, and the tongue 62 which is fixedto rather than pivoted to the buckle. The tongue is upstanding (FIG. 5)and then projects a short distance as at 63 toward the loop. The strapis provided with tongue receiving apertures 64 and an elongated centralaperture 65 of slightly greater diameter than the bearing tube 24 aboutwhich it is placed with the strap end portions extending outwardly ofthe lower case 12 through slots 67 formed in the bottom thereof Thedescribed structure enables non-dexterious children to place the toywatch on their wrists, insert the end of the strap through the buckle 60and the loop 61 at which time the fixed tongue almost automaticallyenters one of the apertures 64 at the proper adjustment for the childswrist.

The toy wrist watch and stra is readily assembled by inserting the strap22 through the slots 67 and placing the elongated slot 65 about thebearing tube 24. The stem 20 is now placed, knob 50 outermost in itsbearing recesses 36, 30, and 32 and the dial 16 positioned on thesupporting circular flange 34 and retained thereon by positioning thecrystal 18 by placing its stub shaft 26 in the bearing tube 24 with theserrations 47 resting on and meshing with the pinion 48. The upper case14 is now positioned overall and cemented to the rabbeted periphery ofthe lower case 12. The parts are thus retained in operating relationshipand rotation of the knob 50 rotates the crystal 18, the hour hand 59,and the magnifying window 58 to successively uncover and disclose thepictures, etc. on the display areas 46, the hour-marking indicia 44always being visible through the transparent central portion of thecrystal 18.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy wrist watch comprising, in combination, a lower case having anupstanding" bearing tube formed centrally thereon; a crystal having adepending shaft formed centrally thereof rotatably mounted thereby insaid tube; said crystal having a simulated hour hand and gear teethserrations formed thereon; spaced members defining bearings formed onthe bottom of said case; a conventional dial supported about said tubeon said bearings; and a stem including a pinion mounted in said bearingsand meshing with said serrations and being rotatable to effect rotationof said crystal.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, and a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced, vertically disposed ribs formed integrallywith said crystal and projecting over the edges of said dial to confineit to its support on said bearings.

3. The combination recited in claim 1, and an upper case secured to saidlower case and confining said crystal in its rotatable mounting in saidbearing tube.

4. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said dial includes displayareas and said crystal includes means of obscuring all but one of saiddisplay areas.

5. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said dial includes displayareas and said crystal includes means for magnifying successive displayareas as it is rotated over said dial.

6. The combination recited in claim 5 wherein said magnifying means isformed integrally with said crystal.

7. The combination recited in claim 5 wherein said crystal is formed toobscure all of said display areas except that which is magnified.

8. The combination recited in claim 1, and a wristencircling strapconnected to said case and including buckle, a tongue, andtongue-receiving apertures, said tongue being fixed to said buckle tofacilitate the fastening of said strap by a child.

9. The combination recited in claim 8 wherein said strap, buckle andtongue are integrally molded in one piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 744,564 11/1903 Kisling et al63l5.5 1,950,647 3/1934 Bailer D421.3X 2,082,612 6/1937 Bourquin D427X2,690,801 10/1954 Perl D42l.3X

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,118,836 3/1956 France 46-1 628,930 9/1949 GreatBritain 46-1 665,726 1/1952 Great Britain 46l LOUIS G. MANCENE, PrimaryExaminer J. N. ESKOVITZ, Assistant Examiner

